Atlanta 1 Whitecaps 0: Quiet storm capsizes Caps' win streak

Vancouver Whitecaps defender Erik Godoy (22) vies for control of the ball with Atlanta United's Justin Meram during the first half of MLS soccer action in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May, 15, 2019.JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS

If a tree falls in the forest, or the Vancouver Whitecaps lose a game and there’s no one there to see it, did it really happen?

B.C. Place wasn’t empty for Wednesday night’s 1-0 to Atlanta United, but the announced crowd of 16,138 left the confines of the Dome feeling cavernous and quiet. Even the 35th minute walkout by the Vancouver Southsiders and Curva Collective lacked much impact, with the stadium already feeling half empty.

It was the smallest crowd at B.C. Place since June 19, 2013, when the Caps had 16,130 on hand to watch a 3-1 win over Chivas USA in another Wednesday matchup. Tonight’s game was the third-lowest since the Caps have been in B.C. Place in MLS play, with the lowest coming on April 18, 2012, when 15,382 took in a 3-1 loss to Kansas City — the Caps’ host on Saturday.

Josef Martinez scored for Atlanta (6-3-2), who have now won five straight games — all by shutout, a new MLS record. Vancouver (3-6-3) had a two-game win streak snapped, their first loss since April 20.

Here’s what we learned:

NEXT GAME

Saturday

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Sporting Kansas City

5:30 p.m. Children’s Mercy Park, TV: TSN Radio: TSN1040

Max Effort

The best player for the Whitecaps, by a wide margin, was goalkeeper Max Crepeau. He had his second-straight five-save performance, including a three-stop sequence with acrobatic, point-blank saves on Hector Villalba, Eric Remedi and Pity Martinez.

He also had another save on Josef Martinez later in the half to keep Vancouver in the game. He couldn’t do anything on Josef Martinez’s penalty shot — the MLS-high seventh they’ve surrendered — despite guessing right and diving to the left, with the shot just squeaking between his hand and the post.

Penalty Puzzle

When Lass Bangoura took down Pity Martinez in the box midway through the first half, it led to the seventh penalty kick conceded by Vancouver this season. Josef Martinez cooly slotted it home past Crepeau for the game’s only goal.

For the second straight season, the Caps are leading the league in penalty kick goals conceded, after giving up nine in 2018. You could forgive the team for feeling cursed, with the amount of turnover in personnel from top to bottom giving way to the same results.

Vancouver Whitecaps forward Alhassane Bangoura (19) vies for control of the ball with Atlanta United defender Franco Escobar (2) and teammate Leandro Gonzalez (5) during the first half of MLS soccer action in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May, 15, 2019.JONATHAN HAYWARD /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Dos Santos has been baffled by his team’s propensity to give up PKs, the last three all coming as a result of clumsy challenges where plays were, as he repeatedly stated, “under control.”

A failed clearance led to Wednesday’s foul, but there was little need for Bangoura’s defensive blunder, as Pity Martinez was bracketed by Ali Adnan on the left, between the Five Stripes player and goal.

“The penalty shot, again, is very clumsy. It’s a play that’s under control, but Ali is there with him. It’s frustrating to lose like that. That’s frustrating. I don’t have a clue how I’m going to deal with that,” said Dos Santos. “It’s incredible. It’s a new (problem) for me. It’s way too many. I think that in the ones we’ve given away, many are clumsy. I’m going to think about how to address it.”

Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Lucas Venuto (7) vies for control of the ball with Atlanta United midfielder Brek Shea (20) during the first half of MLS soccer action in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May, 15, 2019.Jonathan Hayward /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Brek-Fast Meal

He was supposed to be the weak link, a walking meme for Caps fans to share, but Brek Shea walked out of B.C. Place Wednesday night not only beating his former club, but looking little like the player he was in Vancouver.

He was defensively sound at left back, handling any crosses or penetration attempts from Lucas Venuto, and finished the game as Atlanta’s top-rated player, according to whoscored.com.

Shea also put a pinpoint cross on the head of Josef Martinez in the 68th minute, whose header forced Crepeau into a diving save.

While the rest of his team was greeted with the usual shouts of “wanker” from the Caps supporters at the start of the game, Shea, who signed with Atlanta in the off-season, was greeted with a slightly sarcastic cheer from the crowd.

Vancouver Whitecaps defender Erik Godoy (22) vies for control of the ball with Atlanta United’s Justin Meram during the first half of MLS soccer action in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May, 15, 2019.JONATHAN HAYWARD /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Golden Boot Heating Up

Josef Martinez, last year’s Golden Boot winner with 31 goals, had just one goal through his team’s first five games. He’s now scored four in his last six, with two assists.

The Venezuelan striker started up top Saturday and converted a quality penalty kick to put the visitors up 1-0 in the 29th minute. He only had a team-low 15 touches in the first half, although the 5-foot-7 striker was just inches short on connecting on a pair of headers and made a few probing runs that tested the Caps defence.

“It’s like music, you know: small pass, and then suddenly you accelerate, and you feel the danger,” Atlanta coach Frank de Boer said of his forward earlier this week.

Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Hwang In-Beom (4) fights for control of the ball with Atlanta United midfielder Eric Remedi (11) during the first half of MLS soccer action in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, May, 15, 2019.JONATHAN HAYWARD /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Stats Book

The stats were once again weighted against the Caps, as the home side padded its lead atop MLS in shots allowed — coming into Wednesday at 17.4 per game — after being outshot 17-7, including 6-2 on target.

The Whitecaps’ passing was solid in possession in their own third, contributing to a decent 80 per cent overall, but final third passing accuracy was again left wanting, ending with 60 per cent.

The Caps did win the possession battle with 54.3 per cent of the ball, and won the duels battle 51-41, but the only stat that really mattered was the 1-0 final scoreline.

Dos Santos said this week he was happy with the number of shots conceded — even coming off a 27-attempt performance versus Portland — and looked at the stats on a by-game basis, depending on what they were attempting to do tactically.

“We look at the stats, we look at all of that. But we also look at the game,” he said this week. “We look at the stats, and then look at them based on what we wanted to do in the game. One of the examples is, if you look at the stats, we’re a team that allows more crosses in. You can look at it, and say ‘Oh, s**t, they allow so many crosses’ but we look at it and say ‘Great! They aren’t able to penetrate us inside, they have to go around and cross, where I feel we defend them very well.’

“We look at the stats, we look at the model of play, we look at what we wanted to reach against a certain opponent, and we say ‘this is good that this happened,’ or ‘this is bad that this happened.’”